It's been a while since I've written anything, but hey what the heck?
The story is set during The Golden Age for now.
The halls of the King of Midland's castle were frigid with the tension of war, and all the lords fell silent in grim conceit as the leader of the mercenaries band known as the Band of the Hawk crossed the threshold to The King's throne room. He moved among whispers, a sound he was growing increasingly accustomed to hearing amongst the castle but filled him with imperceptible unease all the same. It wasn't long before the king himself broke through the white noise.
"Griffith," spoke the king in unsteady baritone. "Your service to the crown has been commendable. It is because of your outstanding valor and inspirational devotion that I give you a task to be executed with the utmost haste and caution."
"Anything you require, your highness," the white hawk responded even and warm.
"In this time of war any conceivable advantage is to be exploited, and I have become aware of an oracle who's divination could be vital to our strategists."
At this even Griffith's posture tightened. There was an audible murmur amongst the lords. Griffith's knuckles whitened in annoyance.
"An oracle, your majesty," Griffith responded with strained disbelieve in his voice.
"Yes, rumors of her premonitions have circulated for years, but until now they were just hearsay. She has been located residing in a shantytown comprised of riffraff left over from the war campaign. It lies just south of Koka. You are to find her and bring her to me unharmed."
"I see," Griffith said with his eyes concentrating on the wall to inhibit the king from noticing his disbelief. "And may I ask how we will identify this oracle? Is her name known?"
"Her name, no, but the rumors all point to the same woman. She's a young Kushan with scars on her back."
"I see. Yes," Griffith murmured. "Then we will find her."
"Excellent. Go with haste. You are not the first ones who have been sent to retrieve her. Others either returned unsuccessful or not at all."
"She has protection?"
"Evidently, she does have a champion who defends her, but he is only one man. Cut him down."
"It will be done. Blessings, my king," Griffith said and with a sweeping bow he was gone.
"They want us to find WHAT?!" Corcus shouted over his mug of beer that night before they departed. "The king must be getting senile. Next thing you know he'll want us to go off and fight Nosferatu Zodd!"
"Hey easy," Judeau chimed in. "So what? It sounds like we get a reprieve from the fighting for a little while. Lets just enjoy the break, right Casca?"
"If that's what we've been ordered to do," she said less than enthusiastically. "This just feels like a joke. We're soldiers not errand boys."
"It's not a joke to him," spoke Griffith as he came to sit with them. He sighed as his thighs hit the seat.
"It is to me," Guts responded. "But money is money. Lets just get it over with. It's an easy task."
"True," said Griffith. "Terribly long ride though," he said stretching his arms.
"All the more reason to enjoy the scenery," Judeau chuckled.
"I suppose," Griffith said and grinned. "Rest easy tonight, everyone. We ride at dawn. I'd like to get this over with."
"Sir," the others responded in unison.
Many miles away, a dark woman sat on a muddy hill impatiently ticking down the seconds until this chapter of her life would end. Her narrow, grey eyes scanned the horizon and her lithe body shivered softly in the brisk twilight. The chill caressed the grassy flat lands that sprawled out before giving way to the thick forest ahead of her. She bent blade of grass between her thumb and index fingers until it cut her fingertip.
"What are you doing," spoke a voice gravelly but tender. She looked down at him and smiled at the scarred giant that laid his head in her lap. He grinned warm and crooked-jawed and buried his broken nose in her long side-braided plait.
"What do you mean?"
"You're mutilating plants, and they're biting you back," he said glancing at her fingertips as they spotted the moist earth with blood. "You always get that look on your face with you see something—something bad." He pressed her bleeding finger to his lips and she grinned.
"Change isn't always bad, dear," she said meeting her cloudy eyes with his wide and green.
"But this one is, isn't it," he asked and reached up to caress her round cheek then traced a slow line around the bottom of her full lips. "I told you, no matter what happens, I will always protect you. You don't ever have to be afraid again. I will never ever let anyone hurt you again." He sat up on his right arm and caressed the two rough scars adorning her shoulder blades. Her back arched impulsively. The pain was so distant she could no longer remember its origin.
"I know," she said as he turned his face to hers in a slow, careful kiss. "I love you, Leon," she said as though in a dream.
"I love you Arsinoe," he said and laid back down in her lap, so perfectly content that he could not see the tears falling down her face. She caressed the grass and made her finger bleed.
But one day…
You won't love me anymore, and one day…
I'll be far away, and I will long for this moment again.